When I asked Bill and Jan Bevins if they would be interested in hiking Mt. Suswa, they jumped at the possibility. So did I! Jan and Bill were two of the people I climbed Mt. Kenya with in April, and I knew they would be up for an outdoor adventure. I was feeling like I had been in the city too long, and being an Alaskan and all, the need to be in the outdoors practically runs in my blood. The hike was mentioned to a few other people at school, and before we knew it, 2 more families were coming as well as some more friends. The number of people in our caravan totaled more than 20, and since there were children ages 10 and under, I figured (and was hoping) we would not all be hiking together.

We left Nairobi at about 8:30, headed in the right direction but all-together uncertain of where exactly we were going. Mt. Suswa is not a national park, and according to the Lonely Planet guide, it isn’t so easy to access. So we drove in what turned out to be the right direction after all. The road started to get a bit rough, so those people in station wagons decided to park their cars and hop on board the two Land Cruisers. 8 passengers inside and 4 on top of each. I am still sore from that ride on top. Add to the equation a few Masai men and women who needed rides up the mountain, and you’ve got yourself some full Land Cruisers. I don’t think that even the soccer moms carry this many people in one vehicle. This is what SUV’s are made for, right?

The ride on top was beautiful. As we drove further up the mountain to get to the trail head, it became apparent that we were inside a huge crater. The giant rock walls rising up beside us provided a nice shelter from the wind. When we arrived at the trailhead, we were all kicking ourselves (not literally) for not bringing tents and sleeping bags. It would be the perfect place to camp. Oh, I forgot some crucial plot exposition for this story. As we were driving up the mountains, some Masai men started chasing after us with what looked like a receipt book. The Masai woman who was with us in the car, told us to ignore him, so we just kept on driving.

When we finally made it to the trailhead, those of us who were more serious about hiking separated from the families. As we began to hike, it became apparent that there was no definite trail. Some Masai boys showed us to a nice view off the side of a cliff. We looked for a trail but found none. Instead of giving up, we decided to descend down this cliff and climb back up the other side. 4 days later, my quads still regret that decision. The challenge was great, the adventure was great, but as the sun got hotter and the amount of water in my bag got smaller, my mood began to swing. As we climbed back up the cliff, we knew the general direction we needed to go in, but for a while we walked in circles. After whacking through bushes, growing weary from the early stages of dehydration, bleeding from all the thorns we walked through, we finally spotted the cars.

We hopped in the Land Cruiser, and began driving down the mountain to meet the other families who had left 30 minutes earlier. As we drove, we got a phone call saying some of the Masai people had barricaded the road so that we couldn’t get back to the road. When we met up with the rest of the group, some of the men who knew Swahili were talking to these men who blocked the road. Now if you recall back in the third paragraph I wrote about a man chasing us with a receipt book. Apparently we were supposed to stop and pay this man, and since we didn’t they decided to block the road. They were demanding a ridiculous amount of money, but it was going to be dark soon. As much as I would love to bring justice to Kenya, I knew I wasn’t the person to bring about that kind of change in this circumstance. I was all for paying and getting out of there! Eventually, that is what we had to do. After we paid, the men “kindly” moved all the rocks so we could get through.

I left town on Saturday ready for an adventure, and that’s what I got. I was expecting one kind of adventure and got a completely unexpected one. I still haven’t climbed Suswa, though! And after all that, my camera is now lost…